Religious Research

Religious Misconception

Introduction

When tend to walk on very thin ice when discuss religion. We try to mix opinion and fact together without offending anyone. Discussion on religion is a very sensitive subject, there are people who ignore principles and teachings of religions due to the fact that they think that there is only one religion they are brought up in and want to be only concern about that religion only and I was one of them whereas we should explore other religions as well that is why in this paper I am going to discuss religion of Islam for better understanding and knowledge. There are various questions regarding Islam in my mind and various misconceptions that most of the people have towards this religion.

Misconception

Muslims say that their religion is a religion of peace, love, tolerance and charity. But the West does not see it that way and there is a misunderstanding. In fact there is a point of view divergence linked to an abuse of language and especially incompleteness of information. Indeed, Muslims are right when they say that their religion is a religion of love and peace (Walker, 1998). And Westerners are right in saying that Islam is a religion of violence and hatred. The misconception I am going to discuss in this paper is about Islamic Jihad. Today people have very unclear concepts about Jihad and it is the most misunderstood term. Various Muslims have negatively used this concept and who are misusing to achieve their political ends. There are many non-Muslims who misunderstand this concept I was one of them. Other non-Muslims give a distorted interpretation to discredit Islam and Muslims. The word Jihad means struggle. This struggle may be interpreted in different ways. The struggle may be in the mind, in life, at work, on the way to the office, it can be a struggle with the enemy. You may say, "I'm fighting with the arguments of his mind," or, "I'm fighting with the enemy" - in the latter case, an outsider perceive the word struggle as a clash, possibly armed. Sometimes, the actual meaning of the word changes under the influence of historical events (Firestone, 1999). The word "Jihad" does not mean "holy war." It refers to the struggle and effort. This jihad is also forced to Muslims. Knowledge does not help simply raising individual but also contributes indirectly to the whole nation. It is said that those who are in a constant pursuit of knowledge will be rewarded by Allah. The words used for the war in the Qur'an are "H arb" and "Qital." Jihad in turn means serious and sincere struggle both at individual and social level. Jihad is considered as struggle to do good to eliminate evil, injustice, and oppression in the entire society. According to correct Islamic concept this struggle should come from soul and should be social and spiritual. Jihad is to use its best endeavors to do good.

My previous understanding about this religion was changed by other ...